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The Fiat B.R. 1/4 was a
The Fiat B.R. 1/4 was a light bomber
A light bomber is a relatively small and fast type of military bomber aircraft that was primarily employed before the 1950s. Such aircraft would typically not carry more than one ton of ordnance.
The earliest light bombers were intended to dr ...
series, developed in Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
shortly after World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
.
Design and development
The B.R was a development of the SIA 9reconnaissance aircraft
A reconnaissance aircraft (colloquially, a spy plane) is a military aircraft designed or adapted to perform aerial reconnaissance with roles including collection of imagery intelligence (including using Aerial photography, photography), signals ...
, incorporating major strengthening of that design. Its general layout was identical to its predecessor: a two-bay biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...
with tandem, open cockpit
A cockpit or flight deck is the area, on the front part of an aircraft, spacecraft, or submersible, from which a pilot controls the vehicle.
The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the controls th ...
s for pilot and observer, and tailskid undercarriage. Shortly after entering service with the ''Regia Aeronautica
The Royal Italian Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica Italiana'') (RAI) was the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Regio Esercito, Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946. In 1946, the monarchy was ...
'', however, Rosatelli developed an improved version using the Warren truss
In structural engineering, a Warren truss or equilateral truss is a type of truss employing a weight-saving design based upon Triangle, equilateral triangles. It is named after the British engineer James Warren (engineer), James Warren, who pat ...
-style bracing that would become a hallmark of his designs over the next decade.
The B.R. was evolved into a number of increasingly capable variants; however, by the time the later members of the family were produced, 15 years had passed since the initial design, and the type was already obsolete. At its peak, the BR equipped 15 light bomber squadrons of the ''Regia Aeronautica''. Two examples were also exported to Sweden, and one to Hungary.
In 1922, a specially modified BR designated the R.700 was used to set the absolute world airspeed record at 336 km/h (210 mph). The same aircraft was used to contest the ''Coupe Deutsch de la Meurthe
The Coupe Deutsch de la Meurthe was an international aeronautical speed competition instituted on 25 August 1909 by the French oil magnate Henry Deutsch de la Meurthe. The race was reinstated three times through the years at the initiative of the ...
'' in September that year.
Variants
* B.R. - initial production version with Fiat A.14 engine and conventional struts * B.R.1 - improved version with new radiator and landing gear, and Warren truss struts (150 built) * B.R.2 - strengthened structure, new landing gear, and Fiat A.25 engine **R.22 - reconnaissance aircraft of which two prototypes and 23 production versions were built. Although resembling the BR.2 it was of smaller dimensions and the wing and fuselage structures were all-metal. All examples flown by Regia Aeronautica with Fiat A.22 engine * B.R.3 - new landing gear, fitted with radio and panoramic camera and (in later versions) Handley Page-typeslats
Super Low Altitude Test Satellite (SLATS) or Tsubame was a JAXA satellite intended to demonstrate operations in very low Earth orbit (VLEO, below 200 km), using ion engines to counteract aerodynamic drag (physics), drag from the atmosphere ...
(100 built)
* B.R.4 - substantial redesign with revised aerodynamics, new landing gear, and new radiator arrangement (one built)
* R.700 - racer for world airspeed record attempt
Operators
; *Royal Hungarian Air Force
The Hungarian Air Force (, ), is the air force branch of the Military of Hungary, Hungarian Defence Forces.
The primary focus of the present Hungarian Air Force lies in defensive operations. The flying units operate are organised into a single ...
;
*Corpo Aeronautico Militare
The Italian Corpo Aeronautico Militare (Military Aviation Corps) was formed as part of the Regio Esercito (Royal Army) on 7 January 1915, incorporating the Aviators Flights Battalion (airplanes), the Specialists Battalion (airships) and the Ballon ...
;
*Swedish Air Force
The Swedish Air Force ( or just ) is the air force Military branch, branch of the Swedish Armed Forces.
History
The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the escalatin ...
As the B 1 and B 2.
;
*Chinese Nationalist Air Force
Chinese may refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China.
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...
Operated the BR.3
Specifications (B.R.2)
See also
References
* * * * {{Portal bar, Italy, Companies, Aviation BR Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes 1910s Italian bomber aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1919 Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear Single-engined piston aircraft